The origin of auto sexing geese was almost certainly prior to the
11th century and the original development may have been by chance. The only
uniquely American member of the group is of relatively recent development. The
Pilgrim goose breed was developed in Iowa by the renowned poultry and livestock
breeder and judge, Oscar Grow, during the first half of the 20th century. For
the record, Mr. Grow credits the name of his auto sexing geese to his wife, who
reportedly gave them the name “Pilgrim” when they were moved from the family
farm in Iowa to Missouri during the 1930s. The Pilgrim may have some genetic
link to earlier sex linked geese. In his book Modern Waterfowl Management and
Breeding Guide, Mr. Grow gives little detail about the Pilgrim's actual
development. He made the claim that prior to the Pilgrim "there never had been
a breed of true geese" with a sex linked genotype. However there have been
reports that Mr. Grow obtained the foundation stock for the Pilgrims from a
correspondent whose geese tended to be sexually dimorphic but were not perfectly
so. If I remember correctly those geese were from New England or the owner's
family was originally from that area. If that report is correct the foundation
for the Pilgrim breed comes from an area that reportedly was populated with West
of England geese during the colonial period. Mr. Grow rejected "Designs by
exploiters to connect this breed of geese with reputed earlier sex-linked
European breeds."

Bruce Lentz believed there was a connection and felt that Mr. Grow
was trying too hard to avoid it. Bruce said, "Oscar Grow knows more about
waterfowl than I do and I can tell you there were sex-linked geese before there
were Pilgrims and some of those are still around. In England and Europe they
have 4 or 5 kinds. If I know that Oscar Grow should know it, too." Bruce
believed that anyone who could write in detail about English geese had to have
knowledge of English sex linked breeds (West of England geese). He also
reported that there were probably still such geese in New England as they
existed when he was a young man. He knew with certainty a flock existed in
southwestern Pennsylvania.

Dale Rice was willing to give Mr. Grow the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps he doubted that Oscar Grow knew more about waterfowl than Bruce, but he
certainly doubted that Mr. Grow knew much about non-recognized European breeds.
Dale felt that having worked hard on the Pilgrim, it was natural for Mr. Grow to
resent what he saw as attempts to steal his thunder. Dale agreed with Bruce
that the Pilgrim was genetically linked to the European auto sexing geese. Dale
was fairly certain that the same mechanism was responsible for sex linkage in
all the auto sexing breeds of geese and he felt a genetic connection was more
likely than independent identical mutations.

Whatever his actual knowledge, Mr. Grow tried hard to discredit
the idea about other sex linked geese. He suggested that early reports of white
ganders and gray females were simply attempts to produce light colored geese
"preferred in the early markets." Actually gray geese remained the preferred
type in most of western and northern Europe well into the 19th century. In
North America gray geese dominated production into the 2nd half of the 20th
century, despite the fact that white geese have been popular in Italy and
southeastern Europe since Roman types. Mr. Grow tries to hedge his bets, "even
granting there may have been some accidental instances of color dimorphism in
earlier times, the genetic significance of such a phenomenon could not have been
understood and therefore would have soon been dissipated through aimless
selections . . . Moreover, sex linked color patterns alone do not identify the
Pilgrim. There are shape requirements quite as important as its color
distinctions." When these words were written auto sexing geese had avoided
dissipation for 1000 years or more, and at least 3 breeds besides the Pilgrim
(one with two varieties) were in existence.

Even in England and Europe, at least in recent times, the
distribution of auto sexing geese has been rather local and many knowledgeable
poultry people are not aware of them. In her 1980 book Keeping Domestic
Geese, English writer Barbara Soames has this to say about auto sexing
geese. "These two breeds (meaning the Pilgrim and West of England) are the only
truly auto-sexing ones at hatch." Ms. Soames does not mention Norman or
Normandy geese but she considers them to be identical to the West of England
variety. She believes that probably long before European colonists came to
America, certainly before 1600, the English had developed a breed of auto sexing
geese. She also points out most of the Pilgrims were West Country people.
While the original English settlers in America didn't call their geese Pilgrims,
later immigrants seeing them on New England farmsteads did. This agreed with what
Bruce Lentz considered the traditional American view. Ms. Soames hedges her
bets a bit, too. After mentioning Normandy geese, she points out that in 1066
William Duke of Normandy conquered England and many of he supporters chose to
move to England, "lock, stock and barrel –- perhaps geese, too." But she is
quick to point out that the Normans might have seen English auto sexing geese
and taken them "back to friends and relatives."

The geese Reverend Jenyn wrote about in his 1800 book Vertebrate
Animals were certainly auto sexing. He reported they were the only breed
in the country. But as little as 15 years later importation of large numbers of
Embdens and other European breeds started to sweep auto sexing geese from
Eastern England. Later in the century Toulouse were also imported in large
numbers. I probably should point out that it isn't certain whether Reverend
Jenyn was writing about the entire country or just specific sections. Some
writers feel that outside of the West Country the traditional English geese were
non-auto sexing Grays, Saddlebacks and Whites, although the Whites were not very
common. This idea seems to be supported by the American situation where Gray
geese seem to have been well established outside of New England long before the
19th century and presumably some if not most of these geese came from England.

In the early 1970s I talked to a German breeder who seemed well
versed on auto sexing geese. He believed that Scandinavia was the original
source of auto sexing geese. He pointed out that Normandy, the West of England,
and the Shetland Islands were all areas invaded and colonized by Vikings. He
also claimed that auto sexing geese had been common in those areas until
foreign imports had replaced or modified them.

It is likely that the same process occurred in New England. While
it is apparent that the Shetland, West of England and Normandy geese are
related, they are not identical. The West of England is the largest, even
nominally larger than the Pilgrim. This is the breed with on average the
lightest colored females. Their heads are usually largely white.

Despite being smaller the Normandy has a slightly chunkier
appearance. Like the West of England it has orange or orange-yellow bill and
legs. This is the breed with two varieties. The Bavent is a tufted version,
but otherwise very much a typical Normandy. The tufted characteristic was
likely borrowed directly or indirectly from Tufted Roman or Danubian geese in
relatively recent times (the last 2 or 3 centuries). The Shetland is the
smallest of the group and has pink legs and yellowish bills tending to reddish
pink at the base.

If auto sexing geese moved from Normandy to England or from
England to Normandy they were well established before 1066. If they came from
Scandinavia they were established much earlier. No matter when or where they
originated, the leg and bill color of the Shetlands raise some interesting
questions. Auto sexing in geese depends on a gene carried on the X chromosome
that restricts the expression of ground color. Males with two X chromosomes end
up largely white, while females with one X chromosome and one 0 chromosome have
only one restricting gene, which results only in a lighter tone of gray and
patches of white or frosting over the head and near the bill. These restricting
genes are imposed on a gray base, in the case of the Pilgrim. With the
Normandy, West of England and Shetland, the restricting genes are imposed on a
saddleback base.

Years ago I spent some time with Dale Rice speculating the origin
of the auto sexing characteristic. Dale shared my interest in such things but
had never been able to establish a reasonable scenario or likely source for the
development of the trait. He felt like when considering the length of time
geese have been domesticated and comparing their relatively low level of
mutations with the chicken, auto sexing wasn't a very surprising mutation.
Knowing that cross breeding distinct populations produces new genetic
combinations that may cause new phenotypes, and thinking about the white on the
face of the White Fronted group, I couldn't help but wonder if the gene
responsible for auto sexing, when combined with different modifier genes from
the Graylag, could be responsible for sex linked characteristics. Dale said he
considered the same thing but felt that some domestic breeds showed this trait
and were not sex linked. While that didn't rule out some other recombination as
the cause, he couldn't think of any obvious examples. I was never completely
convinced that I wasn't on the right track, and that crosses of different
members of the two groups or even different combinations of the same cross
couldn't produce different results.

However, the Shetlands, with yellow bills and pink legs like
typical Western Graylags, and which are also the smallest member of the auto sexing
group, raise the possibility that this trait was a simple and perhaps very early
mutation from early pre-Western Greylag domestic stock. The size of the
Shetland could be a result of a large goose adapting to a relatively harsh
island environment. When considering what seems to be a pure Western Graylag
characteristic along with small size raises the likelihood that this is the
original type, and that others are the result of some mixture of other
populations.

While Graylags with orange or yellow bills and feet exist they are
not typical. The normal Western Graylag has the same combination as a Shetland,
although the reddish pink at the base of the bill would not be typical. The
fact that many western European breeds have orange bills and feet is one of the
arguments in favor of ancestors for domestic geese other than Graylags and Swan
geese. Although a variety of wild traits have been reported in domestic
populations, the Bean goose is the most often suspected as being responsible for
the orange feet. It is the only other European goose as large as the Graylag.
Hybrids of the two are often larger than their parents. However, both Lesser
and Common White Fronts have orange legs and the Greenland Race of the Common
White Front has an orange bill and lacks the dark marks that the Bean goose has
on its bill. Since orange legs are very rare in Graylags it doesn't seem likely
that this trait comes from those few individuals with it. Swan geese lack knobs
and most of their pure and high percentage domestic descendents have them.

Oscar Grow stated that "The slightest infusion of alien blood will
irretrievably upset the sex linked balance. Once foreign blood is introduced
there is no way of restoring the genetic pattern responsible for 100 percent sex
linkage." It struck me when I first read this quote that if it were true, Mr.
Grow would not have been able to put the Pilgrim breed together in the first
place. Dale Rice was certain that simple grading would yield a pure sex linked
population in just a few generations. While representing major projects,
producing sex links in other colors such as Buff or Brown (males would be
largely White), would be entirely possible. Bruce Lentz believed that a breeder
who knew what pure breeds of both sexes looked like would have little trouble
producing a pure strain from mixed stock, even if the breeder didn't understand
the genetic science involved.

With this article I include a few general notes on reading. I
first devoured Oscar Grow's Waterfowl Management and Breeding Guide
shortly after I returned from Germany in the 1970s. My friend, Vic Corson,
possessed a first edition, which was among the first waterfowl books I read. I
enjoyed it thoroughly even though it left me with a few questions. Despite
later hearing much criticism about the book, I added the 4th edition to my
reference library. Researching the series of goose articles I've been writing
reacquainted me with the book. Yes, the criticism of the book remains valid.
The book has some flaws, but they are restricted to a few items. In general
this is a fine work that anyone interested in poultry in general and waterfowl
in particular should read and keep handy. The ABA is to be commended for
helping to bring it to the public. This is the sort of enterprise the SPPA
needs to initiate as it grows and prospers.

The 1980 Keeping Domestic Geese by Barbara Soames is
perhaps the best all around, recent (although 20 years+ ago) book on geese.
Dave Holderread's 1981 work, The Book of Geese, A Complete Guide to Raising
the Home Flock, is a wonderful how-to manual that every prospective goose
keeper should consult.